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Supreme Court strikes down ban on sports betting in victory for New Jersey

New Jersey won a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court that could lead many states to legalize betting on college and professional sports. The justices ruled 6-3 that a 25-year-old federal law that has effectively prohibited sports betting outside Nevada is unconstitutional.

Supreme Court strikes down ban on sports betting in victory for New Jersey

SportsPulse: Supreme Court reporter Richard Wolf breaks down the SCOTUS ruling on sports betting in the United States, and what it could mean for the future of gambling in professional and college sports.
USA TODAY Sports

The Supreme Court ruled on former New Jersey governor Chris Christie's effort to legalize sports betting in New Jersey.(Photo: Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – New Jersey won a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court on Monday that could lead many states to legalize betting on college and professional sports.

The justices declared unconstitutional a law passed by Congress a quarter century ago that forced states to keep sports gambling bans on the books. The 6-3 decision clears the way for other states to join Nevada in allowing bets to be placed on individual games.

Justice Samuel Alito, a New Jersey native, wrote the court's opinion in the case. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, and Justice Stephen Breyer dissented in part.

"Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own," Alito said. "Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution."

It was a victory for the state's recently departed governor, Chris Christie, who challenged the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, passed by Congress in 1992 to preserve the integrity of the nation's most popular sports. He and other proponents sought the ruling to help the state's ailing casinos and racetracks.

A great day for the rights of states and their people to make their own decisions. New Jersey citizens wanted sports gambling and the federal Gov't had no right to tell them no. The Supreme Court agrees with us today. I am proud to have fought for the rights of the people of NJ.

It was a defeat for the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the four major professional sports leagues — baseball, football, basketball and hockey — that had blocked New Jersey in lower courts. Several of them issued statements urging a federal solution.

"We intend to call on Congress again, this time to enact a core regulatory framework for legalized sports betting," the NFL said in a statement. "We also will work closely with our clubs to ensure that any state efforts that move forward in the meantime protect our fans and the integrity of our game."

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., promoted his legislation "to ensure that consumer protections are in place in any state that decides to implement sports betting." But Geoff Freeman, president of the American Gaming Association, said at least 18 states already are prepared to customize sports betting for their purposes without federal interference. Five states — Connecticut, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — have laws in place.

"The expansion of sports betting is going to be faster than anything we've seen," Freeman predicted. "I'm confident that we can put the illegal market out of business."

Congress passed the law in 1992 to preserve what lawmakers said was the integrity of the games. New Jersey and its allies argued that the act ran afoul of the 10th Amendment, which reserves for the states all powers not delegated to the federal government.

Alito and six colleagues agreed, including all the court's conservatives as well as liberal Justice Elena Kagan.

"It is as if federal officers were installed in state legislative chambers and were armed with the authority to stop legislators from voting on any offending proposals," Alito said. "A more direct affront to state sovereignty is not easy to imagine."

Breyer agreed that the provision directing states to maintain sports betting bans should be stricken, but he said the whole federal law should not have been declared unconstitutional.

Ginsburg and Sotomayor went further, saying the law should stand. "The court wields an ax ... instead of using a scalpel to trim the statute," Ginsburg said.

Christie, who left office in January, signed the state's first law legalizing sports betting in 2012 after voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state Constitution in 2011 to allow it.

That law was overturned by federal district and appeals courts, but the state tried again in 2014 with a law that stopped short of legalization but repealed the prohibition against running a sports books at tracks and casinos. That was rejected at the trial and appellate levels, but the Supreme Court agreed last June to hear the case.

During oral argument in December, conservative justices said the law impermissibly "commandeered" states to keep their bans on the books. Liberal justices said Congress merely pre-empted state laws, a commonplace action.

What has made the law anachronistic is the advent and rapid growth of Internet gambling. Rather than stopping sports betting, it helped push more of it underground, creating a $150 billion annual industry. That dwarfs the $5 billion bet in Nevada, the lone state with a legal sports book that preceded the federal law.

"We look forward to working to make legal and regulated sports betting a big winner for consumers, state governments and all interested parties across the country," said Joe Asher, CEO of the bookmaking firm William Hill. "If we do this the right way, the only losers will be the illegal bookies that have been operating a massive black market."

Raymond Lesniak, a former Democratic state senator who sponsored the bill, said states should be free to wrest sports gambling back from organized crime and offshore operations.

"There’s plenty of action to go around," Lesniak said. "We originally took on the challenge to help our ailing casinos and racetrack industry, and this is going to be a big help.”

In the decades since the legislation was passed, opposition among the sports leagues has waned. The National Hockey League located a team in Las Vegas, and the NFL's Oakland Raiders are due to follow. National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver endorsed sports betting, and Major League Baseball invested in fantasy leagues.